The Role of Women in the Epic of Gilgamesh

Summary: An examination of the role of women in The Epic of Gilgamesh. The characters Ninsun and the harlot subtly imply the truth behind Sumerian culture, in which men were considered strictly dominant over women, and women had limited roles to play in Sumerian society.

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the majority of the characters are male, who take the roles of the most important characters. Only by looking into the parts of the lesser characters, which are women, can one gain a sense of women's places in history. In Sumerian culture, males were strictly dominant over females. Throughout the epic, the most powerful of the gods and the wisest and strongest of humans were male. These examples subtly illustrate a woman's place in Sumer. When observing the characters of Ninsun and the harlot, it is deducible that there were two roles for women in Sumerian society: the devoted mother and the beautiful lover.

Ninsun, the mother of Gilgamesh, shows her love and faith for her son throughout the epic. He goes freely to her for counsel and she gladly assists him in any way possible. When Gilgamesh dreams of the coming of...